The Image Rights & Reproductions Department at the Seattle Art Museum provides images for educational presentations, professional research, print and electronic publications, and media projects. All requests for images MUST be made in writing. Permission for such use is granted at the sole discretion of the Seattle Art Museum. Please contact us for information concerning permissions, or to request digital photography of works in the SAM collection. ​​

In support of our mission, the Seattle Art Museum provides images free of charge for scholarly publication. Scholarly publications are defined as those that reproduce an image for an educational/cultural purpose and are directed to a limited educational/professional audience (up to 5000 copies, or 5 years e-pub or web). Fees may still apply if new photography or scan is required to be able to provide a publication-quality image. High image quality is very important and we continually adapt our files to the latest quality standards, so please always order the latest version and avoid reusing old files.

All requests for images must be made in writing. Permission for such use is granted at the sole discretion of the Seattle Art Museum. Please contact us for information concerning permissions, or to request digital photography of works in the SAM collection.

The Seattle Art Museum has high-resolution digital photography available for reproduction. Low-resolution digital slides are available for educational, research, and lecture use only. They are not permitted for publication. Requested photography is subject to availability at time of request.

Request Processing and Terms of Use

Once your request is received in writing, every effort will be made to meet your publication deadline. Following receipt and approval of your complete request, we will send you an invoice and a Rights and Reproductions Agreement. The invoice must be paid in full and the Rights and Reproductions Agreement signed before photography is released to you. Photographs for reproduction are taken by the museum photographer and digital files remain the property of Seattle Art Museum.

Reproduction is for one-time use only. Photographs may not be cropped, bled off the page, or otherwise altered in any way. All published images must be identified by the Seattle Art Museum’s accession number, title and date of the work of art, artist, and credit line.

The applicant’s oversight of the conditions for reproduction may result in the assessment of additional fees.

All requests should include the following information:

SAM's accession number (if known), and title and artist of artwork.

Reproduction Information: type of publication or project, publisher, or producer; title of publication or project; author; date of publication or release; whether it is for commercial, educational, or scholarly use; print or production run; type of distribution rights; and language(s) in which the publication or project will be distributed.

Artists or designated assignors may retain copyright to works of art in the Seattle Art Museum collection, which are protected under U.S. copyright laws and applicable international treaties. The Seattle Art Museum assumes no responsibility for any claim against the reproduction rights applicant or the Seattle Art Museum by an artist, his/her agent, estate, or any other party in connection with the reproduction of works of art in the collection of the Seattle Art Museum. Inquiries regarding permission to publish images of items in the Seattle Art Museum collection should be directed to the Seattle Art Museum Image Rights & Reproductions Department.

In all cases, unauthorized use of images of works of art in the Seattle Art Museum collection is prohibited. No image of any Seattle Art Museum collection items may be reproduced, published, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission from the Seattle Art Museum.